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` S. SEABURY.

BRBEGH LOADING CANNON.v

Patented Apr. 15, 1890.-

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S. SEABURY. BRBBGH LOADING CANNON.

N5. 425,584. Patented Api. 15, 1890.

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s. SEABURY. BRBEGH LOADING CANNUN.

No. 425,584. Patented Apr. 15. 1890,

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s.-SBABURY. BRBBGH LOADING CANNON.

NO- 425.584 Patented Apr'. 1.5. 1890.

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'A 'SAMUEL' SEABURSLOF THE UNITED STATES NAVY.

. "'fBREEoH-LOADING oANNoN.

SPECIFICATION forming part 0f Letters Patent No. 425,584, dated April 15, 1890. Application tiled July 19, 1889. Serial No. 318,056. (No model.)

To 1f/ZZ whom, t moty concern:

- Be it known that I, SAMUEL SEABURY, lieutenant United States Navy, residing at Ber-4 gen Point, iny the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, have invented anew and useful Improvement in VBreech-Loading Cannon,

. of which the following vis a specification, refverence being had totheaccompanying drawlngs. v l

This improvement relates to breech-loading cannon in which a screw breech-block, which is withdrawn in arearward direction, is employed, with a swinging carrier or receiver hinged to one side of the breech ofthe gun, and into which the breech-block is withdrawn, and which serves as a guide for directing the breech-block into and from its seat in the breech and as a support forthe breech-block while out of the gun. In such a gun there are three movements necessary toopen the breech-namely, ,irst, the turning of the breech-block to unlock it; second, the withdrawal of the breech-block backward into the receiver, and, third, the swinging aside of the receiver with the breech-block init. These three movements have hitherto been separately performed by hand, the l breech-block having beeny first turned to unlock it by hand and then pulled by hand back into the receiver, and the receiver having been then swung aside by hand with the breech-block in it to open the breech.

y The object of this improvement is to pro-` vide for the more rapid working, loading, and

firing. of such breech-loading cannon by effectingall these movements in succession by.

a continuous movement of a single lever.

I will first describe my improvement with reference to the drawings, and afterward point out its novelty in claims.

Figure l is a rear View of the breech of a cannon and of the breechblock, swinging breech-block carrier, and mechanism for operatin g said .breeclrblock carrier embodying my invention. Fig. 2 represents a horizontal sectional view corresponding with Fig. 1, taken in aplane coincident with'the axis of the bore, but showing the exterior of the greater portion 4of the length of the i breech-block. Fig. 3 is a plan'viewjcorresponding with Figs. l and 2. FgAArepresents a Avertical section corresponding with Figs. 1, 2, and 3. The igures above mentioned all show the breech in its closed and llocked position. Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional Viewv corresponding with Fig. 2, except that it shows the breech-block unlocked. Fig. 6 is a horizontal sectional View showing the breech-block withdrawn from its seat in the breech, but not yet thrown aside to open the breech for loading. Fig. 6i" is a horizontal sectional view which lshows the breech-block and its carrier thrown aside to the position to leave .the breech open for loading. Fig. "7 is a rear view illustrating a mod`ification of the mechanism for operating the breeclrblock and carrier. Fig. Sis a plan con responding with Fig. 7. Fig. 9 is a detail view tov be hereinafter explained.

Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts in all the gures.

I will first describe the example of my invention as illustrated by Figs. I to 6*, inclusive.

A designates the breech of the gun, and B the breech-block. vThe block is represented as having upon its exterior a mutilated screwthread corresponding with a mutilated screwthread in the breech to permit the block to be movedV in and out of the breech and to be locked therein by turning it.

C C C2 designate the breech-block carrier, consisting of a tray C, an arm C', to which said trayis solidly attached, and two sockets C2, provided on the said arm, the said sockets forming portions of the hinge by which the said carrier is hinged to the breech of the gun at one side thereof. lOther portions of the hinge consist of sockets D, formed in brackets D', secured to the breech of the gun at one side thereof, and a spindle E, which passes through the said sockets C2 and D,and for which the said sockets D D constitute bearings. The said spindle` is free to turn in the said socketsw'ithin certain limits, as will be hereinafter explained. The tray C conforms internally to the exterior of the breechblock and to the contour of the unmutilated portion of the screw thereof, and has at its sides longitudinal parallel 4tongues c, which correspond with grooves b in the breechblock, which said grooves b are brought ex-.

actly opposite to the said tongues c of the tray when the breech-block is turned to` the position in which it is unlocked, so that when the breech-block is drawn back it may run backward in the tray in 'a direction exactly parallel with thebore of the gun, the breechblock carrier and its traybein g then locked,

.gas shownin Figs. 2 and 4, to the'breech of the gun and forming a continuation ofthe lower part' of the breech-seat. The locking of the tray to thebarrel is effected by means of a lever-likel double catch F, which is pivoted by4 a pin f to the bottom of the tray. This l double catch or lever has at its rear an upward'projectionf, which passes through a hole in the tray, and it has at its front end a downward projection f2, which engages with a hooked bolt f3 fast inthe lower part of the breech of the gun, a springf4 being applied between the tray and the forwardpart of the said lever-like catch to keep the projection f2 in engagement with the .hooked bolt f3 until it is required to be disengaged.

The breech-block, the breech-block carrier,

and the means of locking the c arrier to the breech of the gun, so l.far as I have described them, are like those in common use. I will now proceed to describe 4my improvement whereby their more rapid operation is effected.

a is connected by arod a2 with a crank armV a3, which is fastened upon the upper end of the spindle E. The lower end of the spindle. has upon it a .toothed pinion E', throughv which it is turned tojproduce the movement of the arm as and rod a2, by which the rack@ i is made to operate luponthe toothed ilangeb to turn the breech-block in one direction or the other, the pinion- E being for this purpose gearedwith a curved rack E2 on a handlever- E3, which works horizontallyv on a ful.- Crum-pin4 e, secured to the lower part of the breech ofthe gun on the same side with the spindle E and-.at some distance forward of.y

Vthe latter. i

GG designate two farms, which are iitted loosely to the spindle E between the sockets D andv O2 of the hinge. These arms are secured together and kept at aproper distance apart by means of an interposed sleeve g and a pin g', passing through said sleeve and fastened by a nut,` which 'makes the said arms practically a single-forked arm` The forked ends of the said arms are connected with the breech-block in such manner that by the turning ofthe arms G about the axisof the spindle E the breech-block may be drawn back into the tray bythe said arms and be permitted to move in afdirection parallel with the bore of the gun until entirely withdrawn from its seat in the breech.. The connection shown between the said arms and the breechbloek consists of a hanged ring G', which is screwed, as shown at g2, Figs. 2, 4, 5, and 6, into a concentric cavity in the rear ofthe breechblock, horizontal slideways g3, fast upon the rear of said ring, and slides g4, fitted to slide on said slideways and pivoted by pins g5 to the ends of the said arms. This sliding connection between the arms G and the breechblock permits the breech-block 'to move back in lines-parallel with the bore and permits the turning of the breech-block in its seat to lock and unlock it. The screw-threads of the ring G` form a permanent connection -between the said 'ring and the block, yet permit the aforesaid turning movement of the block while the ring remains stationary. The screw-thread g2 isi-made sc line that the small amount of movement-say one-sixth of a revolution-given to the -breech-block-does not materially disturb the proper connection between the said ring and the block.'A The arms G, the ring G,.andthe above-described conneetions between them constitute what may be termed a breech-block retractor.

The breech-block retractor is operated t0 withdraw the breech-block by 'a' projection g6 from the spindle E acting against the arm or arms G of the retracton In the example ofthe invention shown inl Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,and 6 this projection g6 isfformed on :a 'collar gi,

vvwhich is keyed rigidly to the spindle byakey g3, tted to mortises in lthe spindlefand the collar, the length of.- said key being. equal tol the thickness or depth ofv the collar, and the mortise in the spindle beingon-ly of the same length, so that .the keyr serves .also to confine` the spindle lengthwise in the hinge.. `The key so applied is capable of i beingwithdrawn from Vits mortise in-the spindle by a screw g* (shown in Fig. 2) lfor -the purpose of liberating the spindle when, desired to remove it lengthwise. Thel projection gs'A acts. against the portion of the retractor constituted by the sleeve g. It is so arrangedrrelatively to the armas, by which the. breech-block is turned to lock and unlock it,that in turning the spindle E to unlock the breech-block the projection g6 does not come in contact with the :arm G to withdraw the breech-block until after the breech-block hasbeen unlocked and brought to a position` in'which. its grooves b `are opposite the tonguesc of the breech-block carl. 161'.

The iirst part of the movement of the breech- A block retractor produced'v by theoperation of the projection g on the arm of. the'retractor y brings the breech-.block back into -the tray C of the receiver to a1 position in which it is locked in the saidreceiver by means ofthe upward projection f. on the` spring-actuated double catch f entering-a notch fi, (shown `in Fig. t and dotted in Figs.-6 and 6th,)V provided inthe breech-block, the said. catch having.:

been previously unlocked from the fixed hookbolt f3 by a beveled rear poition of the breechblock passing over 'the saidupward projection f', and so depressing thegrea-rend of the said catch and liftin-gits frontend from the hook over the projection' f', the' vsaid projection is 1 caused to enter it by the4 downward pressure of the spring fi* on the frontend of the'said catch.' This method of locking and unlocking thereceiver to and from the breech and of locking the breech-block to the receiver is well known and not of itself al part of thisinvention. The locking of the breech-blockin Vthe receiver thus eected also secures the ing.

breech-block retractor tothe receiver, so that f the continued movement of the retractor effected by the projection g?l also produces the movement of the carrier. The breech-block and the retractor lthen being locked together, all move together, and the breech is taken one end ofha'stirrupv-like or double lever g1?,-

"which works upon `the sleeve g, hereinbeforc': mentioned, and to the other end of which is attached a spring gn, (best shown" in Figs. 5

f and 6,) which presses against' the outside of the collar g? in such manner as to throw out that end of the lever and throw the trip-pin g9 toward the collar g?. VAs the projection g6 moveswith the Aspindle E from the position shown in Fig. 2, which it` occupies'whenthe breech-block is closed and locked, to the position shown in Fig. 5, which yit occupies' after the breech-block has been unlocked, the said projection trips thesa'idpingg'or pushes it aside, so that it is inoperative, and after the said projection passes by the said pin the 'latter passes in front of the. said projection, as shown in Fig. 5, so that when the spindle Eis turned back the projection g6 acts againstthe said trip-pin, and through it on the retraclor to return the carrier to the breech and to produce the continued movement of the retractor to push the breech-block from the carrier into the breech of the gun. l

It may be understood that by a single continuous vbackward movement of the lever from the position shown in dotted outline 1n Fig. 2 the breech-block is rst turned to unlock it, is afterward 'drawn back by 4the retractor into the receiver-and after that the breech-block, retractonand` receiver are all thrown aside together to leave the breech open. The return movement of the said 1ever first returns the carrier and retractor to the position shown in Fig. 6,with the breechinto its seatin the gun, and iinallyprodimes' the turning movement of thLbreech-block, by,

which it is locked. 1

, effected entirely through the pin g.

i The modification of my improvement shown 1n Figs. 7, 8, and 9 diers'V from the example slightly, one essential-difference being in the construction or mode of applying'the rack E2 to the lever ES and `in the construction and means of actuating the trip-ping". Therack E2, (shown in Figs. 7 and 8,) instead of being 7` rigidly connected with the lever E3, ispivoted to the said lever by a pin h near one end and is made to form part of ayoke E4, and it works upon the spindle E as a guide. Y Tlie'trip-pin g (shown in Figs. 7, 8,and 9, of which figures 8` the lastmentioned represents ahorizontal secvtion in the line x'of Fig. 7). isV itte'dto slide 4up and down in the arm Grof the breech-block retractor, a lateral projection z' on the said pin working in a cam-like groove t" l(seev Figs. 7 8

and 9) in one of the stationary hinge-sockets D, and the equivalent of the projection gG of the first-described example is found in a downward extension of the pin gs, which'connects the lcrank-arm with the rod a2. 'This down- 9 ward extension acts against the'upp'er arm G of the breech-block retractor to draw back the latter after the .breech-block has been unlocked, the trip-pin gibeing during the unlocking held down in the lower part of the 9 cam-groove '11 out ot engagement with the crank-arm a8. As the pin gi begins tomove the retractor-arm, thepin'g", moving with the said arm, is moved up into a corresl'aonding.I hole in the crank-arm as, and the cranklarm 1 and the retractor-arm remain engaged by the said pin gg during the rest of the backward or openingmovement of the retractor and breech- ,block carrier and also during the return or closing movement, the latter movement being 1 As the return movement is completed, the pin g is tripped out of the crank-arm as by its projection 't' passing down into the lower part of the cam-groove 'i' and the crank-arm left free to I operate the rack a to lock the breech-block.

lhave shown on the lower part of the spindle below the hinge (see Figs. 3, 4, 5, and 6) a pulley P, for the purpose of producing the automatic operations of the breech-block re- I tractor and breech-block carrier by the recoil or counter-recoil of the gun, for which purpose the said pulley would be connected by a wire rope or its equivalent with some suit-- able portion' of the gun-carriage. 1 What I claim as my invention, and desire 1 to secure by Letters Patent, is

.r 1. The combination, with a breech-loading cannon and a breech-block for the same, which is withdrawn in a rearward direction, of a 1 breech-block carrier hinged to the breech, and a breech-block retractor hinged to the breech separate from said cari-ier to move independently of said carrier to draw the breech-block thereinto and pushit therefrom, but capable i of moving with said carrier while'the breechblock is therein,qsubstantially as herein set foi-tmf .A j

2. The combination, with a breech-loading cannon and a breech-blockfor the saine, which is withdrawn in a `rearward direction, of a breech-block carrierby which the breeel1-block after Withdrawal is moved aside, out of the 5V Way of the breech, a breech-block retracto'r for withdrawingthe breech-'block from the breech into the said-.,carrier, anda' spindle supported lin bearings attached to the' breech and con-` stituting a pivot upon which the said breech- 41o block carrier and breech'block retraetor are capable of separate movements, substantially as herein` set forth. l 3. The combination, Witha breech-loading cannon and abreech-bloek for the same, which 15 .is locked and unlockedby turning it in the breech and is Withdrawn inarearward direction, of abreech-block carrier hinged to the breech,- albreech-block retraetor, also hinged y #to the `breech,but capable of moving indey 'zo `peinientlybf lsaid carrier, a'locking-device for i `loekingtlie breech-blocl'c, the said carrier, and

'i the saidfretractor together, a pivotalv spindle common "to the hinges'of the said'carri'er and 'retractonja crank-arm on" said spindle geared with .the breech-block'for-turning it,` and a drivingprojeetionl-- on .said spindle for actuatingthe saidretractonand" through it the cara lost motion `between it and the retractor,

' H36 substantially7 as and 4for the purpose herein 'c set forthlff 4.; 'TheCmibinniOaWnh a breech-loading f cannon;` a breeohfbloclffor the sanie,which is lockedv and',` unlocked byffturning it in the .'35 breech, ay swingingI breech-block carrier hinged to the breec nda spindle which vfornnsthe pivot of jthelhinge of the said car= rier, of atoothed "rack-, geared with the said breechblock,pand 4a crank-arm on said sp'inrier, thefsaid projection being arranged with dle connected with said rack' to produce the turning of the breech for locking and unlocking it, substantially as herein described.

5. The combination, with a breech-loading gun and a mutilated-screw breech-block for the saine, of a breech-block retractor consist ing of, first, an arm; second, a hinge by which said arinis connected with the 'breech of the gun; third, a ring screwed into .the

breech-block, and, fourth, asliding connection between the said arm and ring, a pivotspindle for said hinge engaging with said arm with .a lost motion, a pinion on said pivot, a toothed rack geared with said pinion, and a lever for carryingsaid rack, said lever having its fulcrum on the breech of the'gun, substantially as and for the purpose herein described. Y

6. The combination, with a breech-loading cannon, a breech-'block for the same, which is locked and unlocked by turning it in the breech and is withdrawn'in' a rearward direction, and a breech-block retractor having a swinging arm Which is hinged to the breech and in which the breech-block is'` capable of turning, of a spindle constituting the pivot of the hinge of the said retractor, and having a rigid projection for acting upon the swinging arni of the retractor with a lost motion to `Withdraw the breechrbldck, anda trip-pin attached to said arin to engagewith said 'projection for the return movement of the retractor, but to be tripped: duringthewith'- drawing movement, substantially as Vherein set forth. r l

SAMUEL SEABURY. Vitnesses:

FREDK. HAYNES, y D. HOWARD IjIAYWooD. 

